Summary
- A B-24 Liberator bomber known as ‘Getaway Gertie’ crashed into Lake Ontario during a snowstorm.
- The aircraft reportedly ran out of fuel and was unable to land at an airport due to the weather conditions.
- The story of ‘Getaway Gertie’ has captivated many people’s imaginations as they seek to uncover the fate of the crew and the aircraft.
Throughout World War II, Consolidated and the Ford Motor Company built more than 18,000 B-24 Liberator bombers. Some of them became more famous than others, with one, nicknamed the ‘Getaway Gertie,’ becoming the subject of a lot of speculation about what actually happened to it.
Getaway Gertie story
The story of ‘Getaway Gertie’ and its unfortunate rise to fame began on a late night on February 18, 1944. The bomber and its eight crew members left for a training flight from Syracuse Army Air Base, which is now known as Hancock Field Air National Guard Base/Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR), the United States (US).
Photo: Ivan Cholakov | Shutterstock
However, as the aircraft flew northeast, it crashed into Lake Ontario. Oswego County Today, a local newspaper, said the aircraft went down between Nine Mile Point, east of Port City and Port Ontario. Bill Gregway, a local resident, told the outlet that the B-24 Liberator “crashed into the lake during a blinding snowstorm from what I remember about it.”
Before the aircraft went down, the crew reportedly came in radio contact with the Westover Air Reserve Base, where the ‘Getaway Gertie’ was originally based, telling the people at the base that they were unable to land back at SYR due to the weather. The Liberator’s crew’s problems were exacerbated by the lack of fuel, resulting in an order to bail.
That is where the bomber’s story ends, at least what is known about it. Many attempts have been made over the years to find the aircraft at the bottom of the lake, yet apart from a few parts that have apparently washed up ashore, Lake Ontario still holds the secret – or at least what is left of it – about what happened to the B-24 Liberator.
Book and commemoration ceremony
Even if the last part of ‘Getaway Gertie’s’ story remains unknown, the aircraft is still celebrated and researched in various forms. For example, the Commemorative Air Force (CAF), which flies restored combat aircraft that were active within US military services, announced that it would hold a commemoration ceremony for the B-24′ Getaway Gertie’ in June 2023. The event program would have included a fly-over by a B-24 Liberator, nicknamed ‘Diamond Lil.’ Unfortunately, the weather prevented the Liberator’s fly-over, according to the CAF’s updated statement.
“Vanishing Point,” a book by Tom Wilber, also looked into the story, the myths, and the facts of what happened to the B-24 Liberator. It was published in May 2023, with the author being inspired to tell the tale of the aircraft “by summer evenings around the campfire on the shores of Lake Ontario, where parts of the plane have washed up.” While this ‘Getaway Gertie’ was one of the many aircraft that crashed on the homefront, it has still managed to captivate plenty of people’s imaginations to find out about the fate of the eight crew members and the B-24 Liberator.
Sources: Oswego County Today, CAF